Boulder City Council members asked lots of questions Tuesday night about the flood risk to city buildings downtown after learning that two of them -- the Park Central and New Britain buildings near the corner of Arapahoe Avenue and Broadway -- likely would not withstand a 100-year flood.

In particular, they wanted to know how the Boulder Municipal Building, 1777 Broadway, on the other side of Boulder Creek from the threatened buildings, would hold up.

City officials said the municipal building is considered to be safe because it is slightly higher up and has a different construction.

However, city offices that would be important to flood recovery are in the Park Central and New Britain buildings.

The repairs necessary to allow the buildings to withstand a major flood cost more than 50 percent of the buildings' market value, which means the repairs would not be allowed under city code governing structures in the "high-hazard zone."

Several council members expressed concern about the cost of abandoning the buildings -- even through a phased process -- and what would happen to the area in the future.

City officials are in the process of developing a master plan for the so-called Civic Area, from Ninth Street to 17th Street, from Arapahoe to Canyon Boulevard. The flood assessment was done as part of that planning process.

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